Foley, Elberta finish spring football season

By Cole McNanna
Sports Editor
cole@gulfcoastmedia.com
Posted 5/13/22

FOLEY — The spring football season for the Foley Lions and Elberta Warriors culminated in the teams' spring game at Ivan Jones Stadium Thursday night.

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Foley, Elberta finish spring football season

Posted

FOLEY — The spring football season for the Foley Lions and Elberta Warriors culminated in the teams' spring game at Ivan Jones Stadium Thursday night.

After weeks of practice, the squads competed in four quarters of live action where both head coaches saw things they liked and things they needed to work on.

"We did a lot of good things; we've got some things to clean up at every level from our younger guys, JV down to our freshmen," Lions Head Coach Deric Scott said. "We always want to chase excellence and we will continue to do that and that's going to be our goal."

"I think our kids got after it and the whole reason you go play a team like Foley, a 7A team we're 5A, you want to go play people that are bigger and probably better than you to kind of see where you're at," Elberta Head Coach Nathan McDaniel said. "It would be real easy to go out and play an intersquad game and walk off the field and feel really good about it but you really don't have answers to questions you need answered."

The Foley offense left few questions unanswered where Perry Thompson and Carlos Benoit registered multiple touchdowns thanks in part to the frontline protection from offensive tackles Cameron Schultz (6' 5" and 244 pounds) and Logan Joellenbeck (6' 6" and 338 pounds).

"Spring went really well, got some good work in, got better. We've obviously got some things to work on but we got better," Schultz said.

"We did good, for it being six months coming back to it. I'm just ready for the season," Joellenbeck said. "Work harder, all you can do is work harder."

With the spring base propelling them into the summer and fall, the expectations are high in the Lions' locker room.

"State," Thompson said simply.

Both coaches also felt good with the momentum established throughout the spring to carry them into the summer offseason.

"Spring practice for us is a time to evaluate where we're at what, see what we have in store, see where we are but also what's coming up and we got a chance to do that and we feel confident in our spring and how it went," Scott said. "We're always trying to go into every phase of athletics and those seasons with a running start and some type of momentum and I feel like this set us up with good momentum going into the summer."

"I was really pleased with it, the format of the game for us to script it and to be able to get a lot of work for a lot of people, everyone on our sideline got to play, everyone on their sideline got to play; I just think it was very beneficial for everyone involved," McDaniel said.

It will be a busy summer for the Warriors, filled with more punches above their weight class.

"We've got two OTAs scheduled against Saraland, we're going to play in the South Alabama 7-on-7, we're going to play at the Foley 7-on-7; first of all we're not going to back down to anybody, we're going to establish that mentality with our kids. I don't care if they're 7A, it doesn't matter," McDaniel said. "And second of all, it's, hey let's go play people that are bigger, better, that are faster, division-one doesn't matter; let's go play those guys so that when we settle into our region, we've already seen the best."

McDaniel said he already saw some of that mentality on the field in Foley Thursday night.

"I think that we've got some kids that will get after it and are not going to back down from anybody," he said. "I look out there and I've got a 5' 6" corner pressed up against a 6' 4" wide receiver saying come on. Do we have the biggest or fastest kids? No. But I'll tell you what, they absolutely will get after you."